Glass forming machine



w. R. Ruck 2,077,013

GLASS FORMINGv MACHINE April w, 193?.

Filed Feb. 17, 1956 "Z6 l :tir-ll i il 21 Patented Apr".` l?, i193?oFFICEf y 'Guss Fonmfzo MACHINE `William R. Buck, Clarksburg-W. Va.,assigner to'.

Hazel-Atlas Glass Company, Wheeling, W. Va.; a corporation of WestVirginia Application February 17,1936, serial No. 64,385*

rrclaims.' (cite- 35) The invention relates particularlyto formingmachines vof the press type,` although it could be used with other typesof forming machines.

In the manufacture of pressed tumblers andfA other pressed glassarticles, the moltenglass in` the mold is subjected to very greatpressure by' the, pressing plunger; and when the plunger starts itsupward movement, relieving-the glass 'of the pressure, there is atendency for the usual .'.0 valve in the mold bottom to rise with theplunger. This slight movement of the mold valve causes, as I havediscovered, a minute crack to often appear in the glass tumbler' orother pressed"- article. Accordingly, the bjectof the present i5invention vis to. prevent the. presence of these` cracks, which resultsin considerable loss of iin- I ished ware-by the provision of mechanicalmeans for positively and rigidly maintaining the`mold valves in theirseated position during the pressing operation.

' The invention 'will becle'arly understood from .I

the following detailed description, when taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing, in which, t

Figure 1 is aside elevational view of the apparatus, with the mold valvereleased; and

Figure '2 is a vertical sectional view of the apparatus, with themoldvalve lockred in seated vposition.

Referring to the 'drawing in more detail, nu-

meral I refers to the ordinary mold table whichA carries -the desiredlnumber of press .molds 2, The lmolds are removably mounted on the tableby any desiredmeans, as by a plate I in which the mold rests, and awedge I which clamps the;

mold in positlon; the wedge being operateddby a screw5.` L f `The moldtable is rotated l usual manner, andbrin'gs the molds successively 40to' the feeding-station, where a glass charge is fed to each mold, .andthence to the pressing sta.- tion, where a pressing. plungenenters themold and forces the molten glass into the shape o the desired article,such fas a tumbler 6. f In thedrawing the mold is shown atthe pressingstation, andthe pressing plunger* 1- has descended into the mold andforced the glass charge into the shape of the tumbler.v In accordancewith the conventional practice theshaping or impressing plunger isremovably, attached -to the Y .lower end ofapiston`rod 8, which rodisoperated at the desiredltlmeby a cylinder'. L The usual `-neck ring 9 isattached to thelower springl plate I0., Of course varioussizes and of 66plungers-l and molds are employed as desired, de-

ysiredv moment4 theiingers are caused to engage step erster, in,tne-

form..

pending upon the particular worlt at hand. This structure is old andwell known in the art, and:

no detailed description thereof is necessary.

' The mold plate 3 carries a downwardly ex-A tending cage II in which ismounted for verticalv 5 slidingmovement a mold bottom valve I2. Theupper end of the valve extends into the mold' downward. Theconstructionofthe levers is such that when they arehanging freely the fingers II arefree of the valve angeA I3; but at the ieover the Tvalve flange and lockthe valve rmly in its down position. The preferred mechanism for'lockingthe valve will now be described.

'Numeral I9 refers'to acylinder mounted on the machine base plate 20.',At'the proper in- '25 staiit,cmpressed air is admitted through the port'22 to the lower end of cylinder I 9, to'lift 'the piston 23 and itspiston 'rod .24. Mounted on the upper Vend of the piston rod is 'a wedgemember 25.r The surface of this. wedge member 30 is preferably, curved,as shown, or inclined, so that it will engageI the lower portions lIB ofthe levers I6,- and thereby force the flngers I' I into engagement'withthe mold valve ange I3,there, by positively and rigidly maintaining themold 35 valve in its lowered position.

Compressed air-maybe admitted -to the lower end of cylinder I9, tolockthe mold valve in its lowered position, as ,soon as the mold comesto the pressing station, but in any event this operation occurs -beforethe`pressing vor shaping plunger I starts its upward movement, afterhaving shaped the molten glass charge in the desired `Shortly after the'pressing or shapingfplunge'rv $45 has started .its upward movement,compressed air is Jadmitted to the `upper en d 'gf cylinder |9I zythrough port 2I to move piston 23, piston rod 24 and wedge member 25downwardly, thereby releasing the'clamping levers and permitting the 50lower portions to' fall by gravity to withdraw the lockingl fingers fromengagement with the mold valve -ilange I3. The parts arenclw intheAposij tion shown in Figure 1 and the'unold table-is now `i'ree torotateanother step. The forma'-- 55 tion of the article having been completed,.the mold with the completed` article is carried for? ward to thedelivery station; and a cam or other means is provided to engage thelower end of the plug Il and lift it, thereby elevating the nished pieceof ware to a position where it can be engaged by hand or by a take-outdevice, for removal. .As shown in the drawing the plug I 4 is'slidablymounted in the cage Il beneath the l0 'lower end of the mold valve.'I'he means for ele vating the plug is old and well known, and henceillustration thereof is unnecessary. It will beA understood, of course,that a cage with its locking levers ,is provided for each mold, and thata cylinder and wedge member operated thereby are provided only at thepressing station, to which station the molds are successively brought,step by step.

The operation of the apparatus is extremely simple, and has been fullydescribed above in connection with the description of the apparatus.While the apparatus is simple in construction and operation yet itperforms a new and. highly desirable function in rigidly maintaining themold valve in lowered position while the pressing plunger is beingwithdrawn, particularly during the initial part of the plungerwithdrawal. And

as stated hereinbefore this initial withdrawal movement of the pressingplunger tends to lift Athe mold valve, which results in the formation ofminute cracks in the finished articles, as I have discovered. 4

While I have shown and described the vpreferred embodiment of myinvention, it will be at once apparent, to those skilled in the art,that many changes and modifications may be made in the particularapparatus disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention,and all such changes and modifications are intended to be includedwithin the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is: A 4 1. A glass forming machine including a mold, apressingplungena valve arranged in the bot' tom of the mold, said valvebeing upwardly movable to lift a finished article from the mold, andmeans adapted to be periodically interlocked with the valve formaintaining'/ the valve in lowered position during part of the pressingoperation.

2. A glass forming machine including a mold, a pressing plunger, a valvearrangedin the bottom *of the mold, said valve being upwardly `movableto lift a finished article from the mold, and means adapted to betemporarily interlocked with` the valve in lowered position,y said meansrendered operative before the pressing plunger starts its upwardmovement.

3. A glass forming machine including a mold, a pressing plunger, acylinder forl moving the plunger into and out of the mold, an upwardlylmovable valve in the bottom of the mold, ad cylinder operated'means formaintaining the valve in lowered position at the desired time- 4. Aglass forming machine including a mold,

a pressing plunger, a cage depending beneath the 85 mold`,a valvearranged in the bottom of the mold and mounted for vertical slidingmovement in the "cage, and mechanical means for temporarily en-` gagingthe valve and preventing upward movement thereof.

5. A glass forming machine including a mold, a pressing plunger, a cagedepending beneath the mold, a valve arranged in the bottom of the moldand mounted for vertical sliding movement in the cage, a flange formedon the valve, and a. finger adapted to engage over the flange to preventupward movement thereof. 1

6. A glass forming machine including a mold, a pressing plunger, a cagedepending beneath the mold, a valve arranged in the bottom of the moldand mounted for vertical sliding movement in the cage, fingers mountedadjacent the valve, and means for moving the fingers into engagementwith the valve to prevent upward movement thereof.

7. A glass forming machine including a mold, a pressing plunger, a cagedepending beneath the mold, a valve arranged in the bottom of the moldand mounted for vertical sliding movement in the cage, levers pivotallymounted adjacent the valve, fingers provided on the upper ends of saidlevers, and means for engaging the lower portions of the levers to forcethe fingers into engagement with the valve.

8. A glass'forming machine includinga mold, a pressing plunger, a cagedepending beneath the mold, a valve arranged in the bottom of the moldand mounted for vertical sliding movement in the cage, levers pivotallymounted adjacent the valve, fingers provided on the upper ends of saidlevers, and cylinder operated means for moving the ngers into engagementwith the valve, said ilngers'being withdrawn by gravity.

9. A glass forming machine including a mold, a pressing plunger, a cagedepending beneath the mold, a valve arranged in the bottom of the moldand mounted for vertical sliding movement in thecage, levers pivotallymounted adjacent the valve, fingers provided on the upper ends of saidlevers, and a wedge for engaging the lower .porev tions ofthe levers toforce the fingers into locking position with respect to the valve.

10. A glass forming vmachine including a mold, a pressing plunger, meansfor moving the plunger into and out of the mold, a cage dependingbeneath the mold, an upwardly movable valve arranged in the bottom ofthe mold and mounted for vertical sliding movement in the cage, means'for loclclng the valve in lowered position before the pressing plungerstarts its upward movement, and means beneath the valve adapted to beoperated to lift the valve after the pressing operation.

11. A glass forming machine including a mold, a pressing plunger, meansfor moving the plunger 'into and out of the mold, a cage dependingbeneath the mold, an upwardly m'ovable `valve arranged in thebottom ofthe mold and mounted for vertical sliding movement in the cage, meansfor locking the valve'in-lowerd position before the pressing plungerstarts its upward movement, and a plug mounted in the cage beneath thevalve, said plug adapted to be lifted to lift the valve after thepressing operation.

WILLIAM R. RUCK.

